Reciting the We Are Derby poem to over 400 pupils @ Lawn Primary School

Ayup people!

So 2019 has definitely gotten off to a bang! I’ve been rushed off my boots with lots of education work. This includes my first ever requested encore in a school assembly to over 400 kids, who were chanting along to my We Are Derby Poem (See photo above). I’ve also enjoyed being one of the lead writers visiting schools on behalf of SLAMJAM in Lincolnshire. I’ve also recently been involved in the This Is Derby project on behalf of the wonderful team at Deda. I also held a series of workshops as a visiting lecturer at both Keele and Derby Universities.

The next instalment of last year’s ACE funded Travelling Band project (Constell8) is also off to a start! Keep checking back for more dates on that one! In March I put out a new live video for my poem COBWEBS from the February UNISLAM victory which has been getting some good reactions over social media, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKs596bNhU4&t=94s There’s also some footage of me reading some new material that was recorded live @ Side Gallery for the Small Town Inertia exhibition in Newcastle back in January, Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zExJzq05NGs&t=348s

I’m lucky enough to have had my new show accepted for a week-long run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the fantastic people at Laughing Horse. Our Man will feature from Monday 19th until Sunday 25th August at the aptly named Raging Bull from 6:00 PM each night. The show is made up of poems from my next collection of the same title that is due to be published through Burning Eye Books in July. The self-titled poem was published recently in the Morning Star newspaper and can be read here: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/c/poetry-picketline-our-man-1

I’m thrilled to report that the year has started in style as my ace University slam poetry team-mates and I, managed to finish FIRST PLACE in the 2019 UNISLAM finals. We saw off another 24 universities in what was a completely enjoyable and gruelling experience in equal measure. The standard of poetry was second-to-none and I firstly want to give a huge shoutout to our fellow finalists: Strathclyde, Durham, and Leeds Universities who finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively. Also a massive shoutout to all the other teams involved with particular mentions to: Leeds Becket, UEA, Derby (of course), Leicester DMU, Loughborough, Bath Spa and Sheffield, whom we all particularly bonded with over the weekend. Massive hats off to Toby Campion and his team of willing volunteers, judges, and hosts who truly made it a great event. The picture above is taken from the Grand Finals at the Old Rep Theatre in Birmingham, prior to our victory; hence my moody expression. Look out for us as we’ll be back performing at the Old Rep Theatre on Saturday 16th Feb, as well as the Hammer & Tongues final @ The Royal Albert Hall next year!

In other news I’ve been back at work at HMP Foston Hall and I’m happy to say we have some new group members who’ve been a pleasure to work with. Their poetry never ceases to amaze me and I look forward to more slick bars being presented. I’m also happy to announce that my next book and show Our Man is still on course for a July release via the wonderful people at Burning Eye Books I’m very proud of this one, expect a plethora of live dates around its release (more about this in due course). For now though I’m happy to confirm dates at The Chesterfields Labour Club on March 2nd and also cracking the seal on The Cheltenham Poetry Festival on April 25th! (see live page for details). There’s also some videos from my Pride Park performance back in December, which are linked underneath the picture below! I’ll also add them to the videos section! There’ll be a new studio version of We Are Derby along shortly with a stinking new video. I’ve not forgotten you Rams fans. Expect to hear my gob on Radio Derby’s Sportscene in the not-so-distant future as well! There’s also a nice review of my 2017 debut poetry collection The Best Of A Bad Situation from Write Out Loud head over to the review section to see that.

Been a hectic year so far with a lot more to come. Thoroughly recent appearances @ both Long Division Festival, Wakefield with loads of ace poets, hosted by Simon Widdop & Derby Book Festival with the amazing Salena Godden.

I recently finished a residency at Milestone House & have just started another @ The Bosnian & Multicultural Centre in Derby. Plenty more exciting workshops coming up as well.

The Man-Up project I’ve been lead writer on with the fantastic RESTOKE has now confirmed live dates! Check the Live page for information on this!